She formally imposed the two-year sentence he agreed to last month in an 11th-hour plea deal, skirting a trial on his original charge of sexual battery, a possible 10-year sentence and registration as a sex offender.

"You chose wisely to enter into this plea bargain," Herman told him. "The actions you took on Jan. 9 of this year were morally reprehensible, there's no way around that. You put aside someone's dignity."

The incident was caught in a cell phone video that spread across the Internet over the following week. It showed Downing surrounded by a chanting crowd of red-clad Alabama fans celebrating their victory over LSU in the national championship football game. An unconscious 18-year-old in a purple and gold T-shirt was slumped across a counter.

The Times-Picayune does not typically name victims of alleged sexual assaults. But the teenager, Garrison Stamp, who now lives in Texas, has since revealed his identity in an ESPN article.

In the video, the Alabama crowd balanced food containers on Stamp and shouted "Roll Tide!"

Downing then unzipped his pants and rubbed his genitals across Stamp's neck as the crowd cheered him on.

Both Downing and Stamp told ESPN that they did not clearly recall the incident. The article describes how each came to learn of their Internet notoriety as news of the video popped up on websites across the county.

403 Forbidden

403 Forbidden

It reached Downing's cousin, Russell County (Ala.) Sheriff Heath Taylor, who called Downing's father and encouraged him to turn himself over to the law.

Downing's father patted his leg Thursday morning as he made his way up to the bench to receive his sentence. Both his father and his wife, mother of his year-old son, declined to comment after the hearing.

"You have a child, you have a family," Judge Herman scolded Downing on Thursday. "You were an adult . . . not a college student."

She described the incident as a fleeting but disgraceful prank, bound to "permanently brand" both men.

The ESPN article described its consequences: as Downing was booked into Orleans Parish Prison, Stamp decided he would not return to school at LSU.

Stamp has filed a civil lawsuit against both Downing and the Krystal Burger. He could not be reached at his Texas home for comment on the sentence.

Herman said she would recommend Downing for the Department of Correction's boot camp program, which could cut his sentence in half.

One of his attorneys suggested he could serve as little as nine months.